Did You Know...?

...in the 1830's, ketchup was sold as a medicine. In an effort to boost sales, one enterprising manufacturer bottled it as Dr. Miles Compound Extract of Tomato, reputed to cure anything from baldness to athlete's foot, and all points in between.

Did You Know...

Many people assume that pizza boxes are recyclable because they are made of corrugated cardboard.  And in most cases, they really are.  However, it's what goes inside that pizza box that makes parts of it non-recyclable...the grease, leftover toppings, and cheese from the pizza.   Unless you remove the tainted portions, you're causing more harm than good.

Food is one of the worst contaminants in the paper recycling process. Grease and oil are not as big of a problem for plastic, metal and glass, as those materials are recycled using a heat process. But when paper products, like cardboard, are recycled, they are mixed with water and turned into a slurry. Since we all know water and oil don't mix, the issue is clear.

Grease from pizza boxes causes oil to form at the top of the slurry, and paper fibers cannot separate from oils during the pulping process. Essentially, this contaminant causes the entire batch to be ruined. It's for this reason that other food related items are non-recyclable (used paper plates, used napkins, used paper towels, etc).  Some estimates put the costs of irresponsible contamination around $700 million per year!

So the next time you go to recycle your pizza box (or any recyclable container for that matter), take a good look inside, dump or rinse out any food particles and cut or tear out any soiled portions.  Put those in your trash and recycle any remaining parts.  The extra steps may take a few more minutes, but you'll be recycling with a guilt-free conscience.

New Texting Law Takes Effect January 1st for Kansans

You're not the only one making resolutions this year...so is the state of Kansas.  Only, their's will stick!  Starting today, January 1st, anyone caught texting, emailing, or IM-ing behind the wheel will be given a ticket...and in the city of Shawnee, it's going to cost you $110.  Kansas is one of 30 states to enact the no texting-while-driving law.

To illustrate why this law is so important, check out these interesting facts below:

• Texting while driving increases the risk of accident 23.2 times over unimpaired driving.

• Texting while driving results in longer response times than even drunken driving. While an unimpaired driver can respond quickly to changes in traffic and begin braking within half a second, a legally drunk driver needs four additional feet to begin braking and a driver who’s texting needs 70 feet.

• In the moments before a crash or near crash, drivers typically spend nearly five seconds looking at their mobile devices—enough time at typical highway speeds to cover more area than the length of a football field. (124 yards at 55 MPH)

• Though 95 percent of drivers surveyed said texting behind the wheel was unacceptable and unsafe, at least 21 percent admit to doing it anyway.

• Especially amongst teens, texting results in erratic driving behavior, like lane weaving and speeding up and down, increasing the likelihood of hurting pedestrians and running into other vehicles.

• Texting behind the wheel is generational: 37 percent of drivers 18 to 27 admit to texting while driving, compared to 14 percent of 28 to 44 year olds, and 2 percent of 45 to 60 year olds.

• An accident can happen in two to three seconds while texting.

Let's make this a year of responsible cell phone use.

Did You Know...

...that the real estate board game Monopoly was invented in 1934 by Charles B. Darrow? His first version of the game was rejected by Parker Brothers due to design flaws. After Darrow sold 5,000 handmade sets of the game to a Philadelphia department store, Parker Brothers agreed to sell the game. Since then, over 200 million Monopoly games have been sold worldwide.


Who knew?  :)

New Feature! Did You Know...

Thanks to the millions of apps and widgets out there, I have managed to build my iGoogle page to quite the source of useful, and useless, information.  Fortunately, some of the little tidbits that my eyes span daily actually make me stop and ponder.  So...in the spirit of good fun and entertainment...I thought I would start a new blog segment (never fear; it won't be a daily thing) and enlighten you to some of the wisdom the Real Estate market has to share.

Here we go...

Did you know...
...Homebuilders, mortgage bankers, real estate agents, and homebuyers do not recall the early 1980s fondly.  To reduce chronic inflation, the Federal Reserve dramatically raised interest rates causing severe economic recession in the USA.  The national unemployment rate peaked at 10.8%, the prime-lending rate hit a staggering 18.45%, and the mortgage interest rates averaged 16%.

Wow.